Tour of Britain 2014

1…5678911»

Comments

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,876
    madasahattersley wrote:
    Alex is a lovely guy and an awesome rider with a huge future but I don't rate his bike handling skills too high. I've had to bunnyhop over him before in a situation that shouldn't ever have resulted in a crash.

    I helped get him off the road when he crashed in the National RR while someone else dragged his bike out of the way. He touched a wheel on a fast descent but it was a dead straight road and only a small group so you could be right. Great rider though and will hopefully get a chance to move up a level soon.
  • Paul 8v
    Paul 8v Posts: 5,458
    That's why young riders should be forced to ride cyclocross in the off season, learn how to handle a bike properly ;-)

    Poor sod though, probably the most high profile race he's been in all year and stuffs it in front of everyone :-(
    Road
    MTB
    NEW Cross
    Track/Grass Track/Winter bike
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,142
    Excellent, more armchair handling debates.

    FWIW, I think Alex Peeters used to regularly race cyclocross when he was younger.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 17,075
    edited September 2014
    andyp wrote:
    Excellent, more armchair handling debates.

    FWIW, I think Alex Peeters used to regularly race cyclocross when he was younger.

    Won 2 national mtb events as well came 2nd in the series, mind you he did stack it in that series one time :D
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 17,075
    Not sure about the LondonTT crash. I suspect he just pushed it a bit. Pretty fearless noted for descending fast.

    As someone said exuberance
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • southdownswolf
    southdownswolf Posts: 1,525
    I don't think that you can question his bike handling skills because of this crash.
    He admitted that he thought he had done the last corner and was on the home straight, so he had his head down all guns blazing. I'm at work, so can't post pictures of other riders at the corner. However, even as he was approaching you could tell that he was not ready for a corner. Everyone else approached it about 20ft wider and was looking at the apex. Alex had his head down, holding the aero position and it was only as he actually got to the corner that he realised that their was one corner left. By then, it was too late. No time to brake and no chance of getting around the corner at the speed he was going. He was lucky he looked up when he did, or else it could have been a lot worse.
    http://www.stuartmole.co.uk/
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    narbs wrote:
    frenchfighter wrote:
    So the no name rider wins this Tour? Good for him I suppose, hopefully he does something next year. Would have liked the aggressive Kwiatek to win. Haven't watched any of the race other than a few km from Vermote's win.

    I know you like to have a joke, but why bother commenting when you've not watched any of it?

    And as pross says, Kwiatkowski would have been a "no-name" in your eyes last year.

    Well I read the reports and followed the results. A no-name one and my original comment was not a joke. Majority of proper stage races are not won by chance or neo-pros. He may turn into something ridiculously special but I highly doubt it. Kwiatkowski was not a no-name last year...take a look at his palmares. Wiggins could only dream of that.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Macaloon wrote:
    my Wiggo banner

    For real? :D
    Contador is the Greatest
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,142
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Kwiatkowski was not a no-name last year...take a look at his palmares. Wiggins could only dream of that.

    Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Good one. :lol:

    Oh wait, you're serious aren't you? :|
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Yeah possibly a bit harsh. Point being that last year Kwiatkowski would have been better than 95% of the World's cyclists.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 17,075
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Yeah possibly a bit harsh. Point being that last year Kwiatkowski would have been better than 95% of the World's cyclists.
    I was probably better than 95% of the worlds cyclist... maybe still am, ok pedant.
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Yeah possibly a bit harsh. Point being that last year Kwiatkowski would have been better than 95% of the World's cyclists.

    I mean he has never won a world tour race, his biggest win to date is a world tour stage race. His best GT finish is 11th.

    Wiggins in 6 months won 3 world tour stage races, a tour de france and an olympic gold medal.


    I'm sure he was craving that prologue win in Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
  • wombly_knees
    wombly_knees Posts: 657
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Well I read the reports and followed the results. A no-name one and my original comment was not a joke. Majority of proper stage races are not won by chance or neo-pros. He may turn into something ridiculously special but I highly doubt it. Kwiatkowski was not a no-name last year...take a look at his palmares. Wiggins could only dream of that.
    Tis surprising that he's won a big race like this already. But he was one of the best U23 riders last year. Not surprising seeing him do well, although the win was unexpected. He is a big talent.
  • gpreeves
    gpreeves Posts: 454
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Yeah possibly a bit harsh. Point being that last year Kwiatkowski would have been better than 95% of the World's cyclists.

    I agree that Kwiatkowski would have been a bigger name at this point last year, 2013 was a bit of a breakout season for him - 113th to 30th on the CQ Ranking.

    If you compare his results with van Baarle at the same age, the two could be on a similar trajectory, although it's maybe too early to say (especially with a sample of two). VB's clearly a talent, but his performance next season will be most instructive. Here's a graph:

    9tzo68.jpg
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,142
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkoM6YFsko

    A new angle. Where's the bloody team car?
  • phil s
    phil s Posts: 1,128
    gpreeves wrote:
    frenchfighter wrote:
    Yeah possibly a bit harsh. Point being that last year Kwiatkowski would have been better than 95% of the World's cyclists.

    I agree that Kwiatkowski would have been a bigger name at this point last year, 2013 was a bit of a breakout season for him - 113th to 30th on the CQ Ranking.

    If you compare his results with van Baarle at the same age, the two could be on a similar trajectory, although it's maybe too early to say (especially with a sample of two). VB's clearly a talent, but his performance next season will be most instructive. Here's a graph:

    9tzo68.jpg

    Kwiatkowski stepped up to WorldTour in 2011 not 2013, so it's like comparing apples with pears. Age not really a factor IMHO as it's more about race opportunities.
    -- Dirk Hofman Motorhomes --
  • gpreeves
    gpreeves Posts: 454
    phil s wrote:
    Kwiatkowski stepped up to WorldTour in 2011 not 2013, so it's like comparing apples with pears. Age not really a factor IMHO as it's more about race opportunities.

    Agreed, hence my caveat about the small sample size.

    I would argue that points/age does tell you something though, the number of race opportunities (and therefore points) at a certain age probably tells you something about a rider's ability.
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    tumblr_nc0hj1p9gq1qacyk6o2_r1_400.jpg

    Lots of photos here:
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishcycling/
    Contador is the Greatest
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    i-RCM8m4R-X2_zps93cb9273.jpg
    Contador is the Greatest

Categories